Debra Messing Joins Jason Robert Brown's 13 Film Adaptation

Deadline is reporting that Emmy Award-winning actor, Debra Messing has joined the Netflix film adaptation of Jason Robert Brown's "13:" Messing will play mother to the film's protagonist Evan Goldman, to be portrayed by Eli Golden.

She joins a cast featuring fourteen talented young actors including Gabriella Uhl, JD McCrary, Frankie McNellis, Lindsey Blackwell, Jonathan Lengel, Ramon Reed, Nolen Dubuc, Luke Islam, Shechinah Mpumlwana, Kayleigh Cerezo, Wyatt Moss, Liam Wignall, and Khiyla Aynne.

13 will be directed by Tamra Davis and Jason Robert Brown will compose new music for the movie, while Robert Horn will adapt the script based on the book he co-wrote with Dan Elish. Filming is expected to begin in June 2021 in Toronto.

Following a move from New York City to small-town Indiana, young Evan Goldman grapples with his parents' divorce, prepares for his impending Bar Mitzvah, and navigates the complicated social circles of a new school.

13 is the only Broadway musical ever with a cast and band entirely made of teenagers. It originally began previews on September 16, 2008 and officially opened on October 5, 2008 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The Broadway production closed on January 4, 2009 after a total of 105 performances.

Debra Messing is best known for her role on NBC's Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated comedy series "Will & Grace." Messing starred in the NBC series "The Mysteries of Laura," which premiered in 2014. In 2012 and 2013, Messing starred as Julia Houston in NBC's "Smash," a musical drama about the creation of a new Broadway show. In 2014, Messing made her own Broadway debut in the Tony Award-nominated production of John Patrick Shanley's Outside Mullingar. Other theater credits include Donald Marguiles' Pulitzer Prize finalist Collected Stories, and Paul Rudnick's Off-Broadway play The Naked Truth.